Design is a field that brings together creation, imagination, and thinking about people and situations. When we learn how this field is organized, we’re better prepared for making things better. Design’s a funny word. As a verb, it describes an action of planning and creation. As a noun, it points to an entire field of …
The word design is all over the place; what does it mean? In this new series, I walk you through what design is, how it works, how to do it, and explain why you’re already a designer and how to become better at it. My mother recently told me that every time she hears the …
Disruption is often described in abstract terms with time horizons that look long enough to act on. What we see now is far different from that — faster and more intense. You might have had relatively few ideas of what artificial intelligence looked like until last week. That was when the news of ChatGPT made …
We can reflect on gender-based violence and the victims of it and take action, but we must do both if we want change. Today is a day of National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. (You can read more about it here). This is a theme that’s rarely — if …
Remembrance and Action for Gender-Based Violence (And All of Us) Read More »
If you design or evaluate things, why not share what you know with people who design and evaluate things for a living? I believe designers and evaluators need to talk more. I’ve argued that the conversation between design and evaluation is worth having. As both a professional designer and evaluator, my work is a reflection …
Principled or values-driven approaches to strategy only have value when we can put them into practice. In this latest post in our series on Principles-Focused Evaluation, we look at the nuts and bolts of putting principles into practice. It is a lot easier to speak of principles and values than to live by them. I …
A good principle can be a source of inspiration and guidance for action and accountability if we know how to develop it.
What is a Principles-Focused Evaluation approach, and what does it offer those seeking to support change, adaptation, and innovation? This first in a series of posts will introduce you to an approach to strategic innovation and evaluation for complex situations. Principles-Focused Evaluation (PFE) is an approach to generating value in complex situations. It is an …
Principles-Focused Evaluation: A Series Introduction Read More »
Data-driven strategy and decision-making are only as good as the processes we have to gather, synthesize and use to inform action. I am a strong advocate for using data to inform decisions. Good quality data, appropriately gathered and focused, can reveal patterns that save time, money, and even lives. But data is also another method …
A new documentary profiles the life and perspective of Bruce Mau, a designer who had contributed more to my passion for the field than any other. Bruce Mau is an enigma. He is a designer in the fullest sense of that term and has demonstrated the power of design thinking (in it’s fullest sense of …
